This was what was supposed to be a 16 hour shift, many years ago, that ended up as a 17 hour and very wet shift. At the time, I was a Paramedic, and was working with a very good EMT, and good friend, Doug.
We start our shift at 7am, check the truck out (ok...who am I kidding? We "half-assed" checked the truck out, as we needed coffee). So we head off for coffee and a bagel, when we get our first call. I don't remember what the call was (this day was over 12 years ago, and I only remember the "highlights"), so we didn't get coffee until about 8:30am, which made us cranky.
The morning put us through a couple calls, nothing exciting. Then, around noontime, we get sent on a call for Chest Pain. We're on the Lynnway in Lynn, MA, which for those of you who don't know, is a busy road, 2 lanes of traffic in each directions, with a jersey barrier in between, and a few sets of lights with cross-streets. Anyway, we're heading South, but need to turn around to head North to catch the street where the house is. We come to a set of lights at a cross-street, we have all our "woo woo" lights on the ambulance, and the siren on. We have a red arrow to turn left. Heading North, is 2 cars, then nothing else, so I decide that I'll wait until the 2 cars drive by, then I'll go through the red arrow and make a u-turn and head North. Well, the first car contained 4 women in their late 60's, heading to play Bingo or something, and the driver, being a conscientious citizen, sees us waiting to make a u-turn, and she slams on the brakes. Unfortunately, the 20 year old girl in the second car didn't have the same plan, and she plows into the rear end of the car full of grannies. We call Dispatch, and advise them that we have witnessed a car accident, and to send another ambulance to the original call. We pull over, and start to assess all 5 patients. Nobody is hurt, there isn't a whole boatload of damage to either car, and everyone is out of their cars and walking around. We advise them that they should be transported to the Hospital (because we're supposed to advise everyone that), and everyone refuses. Right about now, a State Police cruiser pulls up, and we tell him what happened. Now, the women all start arguing about who is at fault for the accident, and they all decide that it's US! Well, since everyone is refusing to be transported, we have a form called a "Patient Refusal" form, that they're supposed to sign, acknowledging that we have advised them to be transported by ambulance, and that they are refusing to do so under their own free will. Well, none of them would sign the Refusal, because they all felt that it meant that they were signing off saying that we weren't at fault for the accident. So we're going 'round and 'round about this, and finally I say Screw This, and have the State Cop sign as a witness that they all were refusing to sign the Patient Refusal. We write up the run report and incident report with great detail, and later, when both Insurance Company's tried to sue my ambulance company, our reports ended that quickly.
OK...so what's next? We grabbed a late lunch, and then were back doing calls again. We get called to a "triple-decker", on the 3rd floor, for a guy that had been in a car accident earlier in the day in Chelsea, and had refused to be transported (it's a trend on this day!), and he is now lying on the softest couch in the world, complaining of back pain. Oh...did I mention the spiral staircase that goes up 3 floors to the apartment??? Long story short, we busted our asses getting this Jamoke down the spiral stairs, while still trying to control his c-spine. Blah blah blah.
The day continued, busy as all hell, we're getting tired, and cranky again. But...the light is at the end of the tunnel! It's 10pm, and our shift ends in an hour! We're back at the base for only the second time today, sitting down, feet up, watching something on TV. 10:15pm...the home stretch...and the phone rings. We have to go pick up a patient at the Dialysis Center at the Hospital, and bring her home. She'll be ready at 10:45pm. So much for getting out at 11! So we drive to the Hospital, drag the stretcher up to the Dialysis Center, and the nurse tells us that she won't be ready until just after 11 now. Wonderful. The Hospital that we are at is built in the shape of a "U". In the middle of the U, outside, is a nicely landscaped area with a couple of benches, so we decide to go sit outside for a few minutes. We find a door that opens to the U, but it's a door that will lock behind us if it closes, so we prop it open with a magazine, and go sit on the benches. We're exhausted, we're cranky, and while we're sitting there, we see a Hospital security guard come up to the door, take the magazine out, and close the door. We're watching him, too much in awe to even try to stop him. I look over at Doug, and say, "Seriously, could this day get any worse?" Before he can answer me, the automatic sprinkler system for the "U" turn on, and we're now getting soaked, while we're sitting there, tired, cranky, and laughing our asses off.
The days that I hate my job, I love my job...
